anniecoleman.com

Here are some better pictures of the Kauni, taken with no flash but some shadows due to the late afternoon sun:

As you can see I went with a hemmed edge instead of the ribbing and I like it but it still wants to curl a bit. Hopefully the blocking will solve that. And up closer:

It’s a bit lumpy but it’s all bunched up on the circular. I’ve been careful to keep my strands loose across the back so I’m sure a good blocking will even it out. I’m really enjoying the colors. I’ve decided that for the sleeves I’m going to do just plain stockinette from one ball for each arm. The pattern is a bit overwhelming and I think some simpler but still colorful sleeves will be nice on it.

Here are the results of my first handspun yarn. You can see the first batch is very uneven and the second is more consistent and is plied together. The ply also is well balanced since it hangs (or in this case lies down) loose without twisting back on itself:

And here with both batches wound:

These really are tiny balls of yarn (the smaller plied one is all of 6 yards) so I have no clue what I’ll do with them. These were more for learning than anything else. So, I’ve been spinning the Peachfire Roving that I posted about last time. Here is a spindle full of 2 oz of singles (half of what I bought):

Much thinner, much more consistent, gorgeous colors! Wound onto my makeshift nostepinne:

Yes, that is an old broken baseball bat. Stephen was going through some old childhood stuff and I found some good uses for a few items. Just wait till you see my niddy noddy! But first, here it is back on the spindle in 2 ply yarn, plied from either end of the singles:

For the most part it’s pretty even but I can see some spots where I didn’t put enough twist in the singles to compensate for the loss of twist in the plying process so the singles ply looks a bit slubby. But still I’m thrilled with how well it plied together. Here it is wound onto the niddy noddy I made yesterday afternoon:

Why, yes, as a matter of fact, those are Lincoln Logs. A hot glue gun, some Lincoln Logs with perfect little notches to hold the yarn and - bam! - a perfect 2 yd niddy noddy. The perfect 2 yard part was completely accidental and lucky. So I’ve got about 50 yards skeined up and I just need to set the twist then I’ll start on the other half of the roving.

I’m definitely really into the spinning. It is very soothing and satisfying. Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts’s book Spinning in the Old Way: How (and why) to make your own yarn with a high-whorl handspindle has been my constant guide through all this. What a wonderful book for a new handspinner, I recommend it highly.